


In Which I Throw Canon Straight Out The Window

by JuniorPsychopaths



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Azula is Not a Good Sister (but she's trying), But mostly fluff, Crack, Crack Treated Seriously, Fix-It, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Honestly just me taking canon and bashing Ozai in the head with it, Hurt Azula, Hurt Zuko (Avatar), Iroh (Avatar) is a Good Uncle, Minor Violence, Not Beta Read We Die like Ozai Deserved To, Ozai (Avatar) Being a Terrible Parent, Sibling Bonding, Tread Carefully, Zuko (Avatar) is a Good Brother, but he get's what's coming to him, don't worry so am I, fite me, he deserves it anyway, if you get me, iroh is confused, lots and lots of fluff, me and canon are just not on the same wavelength, not major but still, the fluff is manditory, why is that not a tag
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-23
Updated: 2020-10-27
Packaged: 2021-03-09 03:02:13
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,866
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27157006
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JuniorPsychopaths/pseuds/JuniorPsychopaths
Summary: There was energy crackling around her. The air was alight with static and her senses were in hyper focus. It hit her right then, how easy it would be to kill him. Leave him writhing on the floor with glassy eyes and fried organs."Azula," He repeated, and somehow managed to sound both pleading and exhausted at once. "Just let us help you."Nothing had changed, not really. She was still the one with the power in her hands. He was still bleeding, shaking from overexertion with one hand pressed tightly to the bleeding wound on his side. But there was a glint in his eyes, war-set determination, and it was at that moment she realised this wasn't her brother Zuzu, the disappointment to the familyThis was Zuko, the Blue Spirit and a traitor in all sense of word.She wasn't really sure what to do with that information.
Relationships: Azula & The Gaang (Avatar), Azula & Zuko (Avatar), The Gaang & Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 18
Kudos: 65





	1. Realisations

**Author's Note:**

> I just want to ensure that everyone notices and realises it has been YEARS since I have watched ATLA and I am surviving off pure force of fan fiction right now. Don't expect anything spectacular.

╔═══════ ೋღ ღೋ ═══════╗

Prologue

╚═══════ ೋღ ღೋ ═══════╝

"Azula," he pleaded. "Listen to me."

She sneered at him. "Shut up."

The drawing of energy from the air around her was almost second nature, at this point. Her motions were fluid and graceful in a way that he could never hope to be. The blood pumping in her veins, and the way every nerve in her body seemed to be alight was so familiar at this point it was almost comforting. There was energy crackling around her, dancing in uncoordinated ropes around her body. The air was alight with static and her senses were in hyper focus. It hit here, right then, how easy it would be to kill him. Leave him writhing on the floor with glassy eyes and fried organs.

"Azula," He repeated, and somehow managed to sound both pleading and exhausted at once. "Just let us help you."

Nothing had changed, not really. She was still the one with the power in her hands. He was still bleeding, shaking from overexertion with one hand pressed tightly to the bleeding wound on his side. But there was a glint in his eyes, war-set determination, and it was at that moment she realised that this was not her 10-year old brother. This wasn't the boy who cried when she burnt the turtlenecks, or who couldn't get his forms right. This wasn't the boy who flinched when her father spoke to him, or trembled when it was time for tests.

This wasn't Zuzu, the failed heir and disappointment of a prince.

This was Zuko, the Blue Spirit, a traitor in all senses and word. He had a knife clutched in his arm, and Azula suddenly realised that, although she could strike him down with lightening with a twist of her hand, he could stab her through the heart with a flick of his wrist. This boy- no, man standing in front of her was not her idiot birthed anymore.

And she wasn't sure what to do with that information.

"Listen to me, Azula. You can't win this." and that tone in his voice, the one that just screamed you can't hurt me anymore? She hated it.

But deep down, she knew he was right. She could already feel the strain on her bones from holding the lightening in her. She knew her eyes were alight with fire, her hair standing up on ends. The electric pulse spreading through her body was bordering on painful. Burning. Searing. And she wasn't alone, if the avatar and his merry band of idiots behind him was any indication. She couldn't win this fight with brute force. She couldn't plan her way out of it. She just couldn't win this fight. A fight against her idiot brother because he had actually decided to grow up and become an independent individual. And now he was stronger than her.

He was stronger than her.

She wasn't sure what to do with that information.

.Z•°U ✿ K°•O.

Zuko could pinpoint the exact moment the fight left his sister.

It has been years since he last saw her close up- face to face. It's been even longer since he last had a civil conversation with her. She's changed. He's changed. But he can still spot the furrows in her brows as her movements slowed. The crook of her fingers and tension in her figure as she fought against the influences of the lightening. He watched her eyes dart from him to the avatar, then the avatar's friends, and back. He could spot the exact moment she breathed out and released it in a torrent at the wall next to her in an explosion so strong it made the ground underneath his feat shake.

He was lunging at her and wrapping his arms around her form before her knees even hit the ground. She punched at his arms, but even he could feel there wasn't any heat behind it. She was shivering as if she was cold, even though her skin was almost too hot to touch. His mind flashed back to a time before training, when their mother was still there and they didn't have the harsh expectations of royalty between them. Back then, when his biggest concern was getting the turtlenecks in the lake outside to like him. 

Only this time, he wasn't five years old. His sister hated him, hated his uncle, and would probably make an attempt at his life the moment she got over whatever breakdown she was having right now. Because even though they were related by blood, Zuko and Azula hadn't been siblings for a long time. A single episode wasn't going to change years worth of rivalry and hatred. 

Because as much as she pretended to hate him, Zuko knew there was a small part of her that still loved him. And as much as he tried not to hold her responsible for everything, her knew that deep down there was a part of him that hated her too. Like Yin and Yang. 

Love and Hatred.

Zuko and Azula.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Talk gets postponed and Sokka is honestly so confused
> 
> Azula just wants some semblance of control.
> 
> Iroh is a god uncle. Never said he was a responsible adult.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I warn you, brave traveller, of the hardships you are about to endure. Because this is honestly so cracky you're guaranteed to cringe at least once. I tried to keep the prologue serious, to lure in unexacting kudos, but that won't remain forever. Tread carefully.

Zuko was expecting Azula to be mad at him the moment she got herself back together. He was waiting for it, actually; mentally preparing himself to attempt to wrestle the flames back from her control (A plan which would, unfortunately, fail). But he admits he must have let his guard down a little bit for him to have been as unprepared for the punch Azula sent his way as he was. The bruise on his jaw is going to torment him for weeks, he just knows it.

"Get away for me!" She screamed, a crazed rage flashing in her eyes. She had arranged herself into a fighting stance- feet out and fists held in front of her. But Zuko couldn't help but notice that she still hadn't summoned any fire. Hmm.

"Azula," he croaked. "Be reasonable."

Black spots were clouding his vision, and he was soon forced unto the realisation that he had a gaping wound in his side- a gaping wound which had been bleeding for quite a while now, to be honest. And the room was spinning, faces blurring into each other as their voices faded into white noise. That wasn't a good thing, was it?

Then he passed out.

⋅ S━O 𖥔⋅K⋅𖥔 K━A ⋅ 

To be 100% honest, Sokka had absolutely no idea what he was doing. He blamed it wholeheartedly on Prince I-am-not-on-your-side-but-still-help-you. Sokka had never met a man as indecisive; and that was saying something, coming from him.This whole thing was a mess, and he was so out of depth. Fighting and evil overlord who wanted to rule the fire nation? No problem. A 12 year old avatar who has been asleep for a hundred years? He can handle that. Evil Firebending Princess and her merry band of hot psychopaths? Not his cup of tea, per say, but doable. 

What he couldn't handle, however, was his not-ally befriending his crazy enemy (sister???), and for said crazy sister to not kill him. This was not his area of expertise. Like, at all. And because he was so out of his comfort zone, he spent the next few minutes following Broody McHotPants abrupt nap staring at his unmoving body with his mouth hanging open. Not his finest moment, he'll admit.

Luckily for them, they had an angel amongst them, in the form of a boy called Aang.

"Zuko!" he yelled, lunging at him.

Azula growled form where she stood, slashing her arm through the air as a wall of fire erupted between them. Aang squeaked, sending a gust of air to put it out. Azula lunged at him again with a volley of fireballs, and he scrambled to defend himself. Katara seemed to have gained her senses and pulled out the remaining water from the flask around her neck. Shew sent a few icicles Azula's way to distract her, but Mai slashed them out of air with knives from seemingly out of nowhere.

Ty Lee giggled, using a handspring to propel herself forwards and kicking Katara's hands out of the way when she prepared to waterbend again. Sokka finally snapped himself out of his stupor and threw his boomerang in her direction. 

Mai ducked, and that small falter was enough for Katara to use a water whip to knock her knife aside. She pulled another one out of her sleeve and threw it at Katara, who used the same water whip to slash it out of the air.

Ty Lee turned towards Sokka, grinning. Then she kicked him with both legs and used his body as a springboard to flip over Katara, grabbing unto her shoulders with both hands and twisting them both forwards. Sokka stumbled and fell, rubbing his backside a few times before turning to the ground, searching for a weapon. 

Katara dodged another one of Mai's swipes, panting hard. So far she had knocked six knifes out of the girls grip, but she was still pulling them out of nowhere. Under different circumstances, she might have been impressed by how many weapons she had managed to hide in her outfit. As for now, she gadded all the water she could out of the ground underneath her and used it to freeze one of Ty Lee's feet in her spot midair. She managed to twist her body and extend her arms, forming a sort of sideways handstand and rolling the second she hit the ground. She sprang gracefully back to her feet and was pounding her frozen foot on the floor just as Mai used her distraction to kick her in the side.

Katara crashed to the ground, getting on her hands and knees just to have to roll again to avoid being burnt by a stray fireball. The heatwave was so intense she felt herself breaking into a sweat, even though it hadn't gotten that close. Standing up, she pulled the perspiration from her skin and used it to form another water whip to defend herself. Mai stood in front of her again, only to get smacked in the head by Sokka's boomerang.

Aang manipulates the air in front of him to form a small tornado to absorb at torrent if fire Azula was sending at him, before spinning it in the opposite direction to disperse the heat. Azula completed a series of complicated moves in his direction, sending a Bunche of random slashes of fire at him. He flipped out of the way, using a large gust of air to blow the flames out. She growled at him, sending a fireball in his direction, only for it to splutter out mid-air. 

Azula turned to the shadows with a sneer. "Uncle." 

The form of Iron stepped out of the shadows, his normally carefree features twisted into a scowl. "Azula." he replied, voice devoid of all emotion. Aang hadn't thought the man was capable of something so cold. Once again, the day was filled with surprises.

"What are you doing here? Come to kill me at last?" She sneered at him.

Iroh's expression softened. "I would never, dear niece. Whatever would make you think such a thing?"

Azula scoffed. "I should have realised. You're too much a coward to do anything even remotely violent. Isn't that right, _dear Uncle_?"

Aang shivered at the hatred behind her voice. Why was she always so _angry?_ He didn't think he would ever understand girls.

"Azula." Iroh spoke with a commanding tone in his voice, so strong that even Azula faltered in her steps. "I think it's about time we settle this once and for all."

Aang looked between the two worryingly. "What are you talking about?"

Azula smiled, too much teeth and not enough warmth. "It's obvious, of course. He wants end it here, once and for all." She throned to her uncle once m0re, and positioned herself into a fighting stance once more. "I'll save you the honours."

"What are they talking about?" Sokka yelled, panicked. 

He extended his hand to lunge for her only to get tackled to the ground by a grinning Ty Lee. Katara kicked at Mai, splashing water into her eyes to distract her then pulling it out of her robes to hurl it at Azula. Said princess turned it into rising vapour with a simple flick of her wrist. Her smile was cold as she sent a torrent of fireballs at her. But here eyes still didn't leave Iroh. 

Katara glared at her. Mai kicked at her feet from the place on the ground, sending her sprawling to the floor. Ty Lee sent her a charming smile as she punched Sokka in the face, effectively knocking him out. But a blaze of fire stopped here from ding anything more as she used what was left of her water to form as shield from it. Aang jumped back, out of the way, but Azula didn't even move. The flames exploded into a wall of smoke moments before it got to her. From behind the smoke, she extended a pointing hand.

"Iroh, traitor of the Fire Nation and Dragon of the West, I challenge you to and Agni Kai."

Katara had no idea what that meant, but she had a feeling it wasn't a good thing.

She was right.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know what I have done, or why I did it, but it has been done and I have no regrets. (I have so many regrets kfdjdfjffdj-)


	3. A Study in Azula

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A deeper look into Zuko and Azula's relationship, from the beginning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I straight up stole that title form Sherlock and I'm not even ashamed. It has absolutely nothing to do with the plot, but it has a nice ring to it.

When Zuko was five years old, Azula killed all the turtleducks in the pond.

She'd caught him and mom sitting next to it while on her way to firebending practice, and had spent the rest of the day glaring at them from her spot in the courtyard. She commanded her teacher to pause firebending practice to teach her how to throw rocks, and he was so baffled at the 3 year old princess demanding to learn something with seemingly no use that he'd agreed. The next day, she had picked the largest rocks she could carry and made a game of launching them at the turtleduck's heads. Most of them had run away, and the ones that remained were floating in their shells with their heads bashed in.

Zuko had cried when he found out, and it had taken weeks of his mother's coaxing and a harsh glare from his father to make him talk to her again. And even then it was in harsh sentences and barely-concealed glares. The turtleducks had gotten replaced with newer, healthier ones, and Zuko had started talking to her again. He had all but forgotten it when news came in from the physicists. 

He wasn't supposed to hear it. The servant had come in the middle of the night, and shouldn't have been awake. But he'd had a nightmare and wanted to see his mom again. He hadn't even understood half of the words the servant had said.

"-quite dangerous, they are. We'll have to send our thanks to princess Azula-" 

And that had caught his attention. Azula was just three, but everyone hated her. No one ever sent thanks to Azula, unless the Fire Lord himself ordered them to. He wondered what Azula had done this time to make them like her. Or maybe she'd threatened them, like she did to the last one-

"-any more contact, I'm afraid, and you would have been stuck with one heir-" 

Zuko paused. What heir? They only had one. Unless he was talking about him, which was crazy because Father had told him multiple times about how he would never be Fire Lord. Surely the servants knew that?

Ozai silenced the man with a wave of his hand. He instantly dropped down into a bow, muttering apologies for his late reaction. But Zuko had heard enough. The servant just have been talking about him, because Father didn't have any other children (that he knew of) and Lu Ten wouldn't count as his heir. He was Uncle's. But why would he be gone? And what did that have to do with the turtleducks? He stood there stewing over it for a few more minutes before he heard footsteps coming in his direction and hurried back to his room. It didn't matter if he would have been gone, if father found him out of bed this late at night, he would be.

Zuko found himself paying more attention to Azula in the morning. To everyone, she would have been acting normal. Walking around with a gracefulness a 3 year old should not posses and insulting the servants with words she should not know. And that's when he realised- she never used bad words on him. She never used them when Father was around either, but no one swore in front of the Fire Lord. That was guaranteed a painful death. 

And now he thought about it, she never insulted him, did she? She called him dummy, ranted about how terrible he was at everything, flicked his head and tripped him when the teachers weren't looking, but she never really hurt him with the same intensity she reserved for the servants. 

It didn't really matter anyway, because he forgot all about it a few weeks later.

The next time was when she broke his sword. Well, broke isn't the right word. She'd heated it up with her exceptionally hot flames and whacked it repeatedly with a hammer she'd stolen form the blacksmiths's workshop. 

Zuko tried to be nice. He really did. But that was his favourite sword. Master Piandao had made him forge it all by himself, and it had taken hours to make. And she had destroyed it in a matter of _seconds_. 

The thing that annoyed Zuko the most about Azula wasn't even her brash personality. He didn't care about the way she tore into people with words, the way she seemed to take pleasure in other people's pain (she was only 3, after all. If she wanted to laugh about the servant tripping in the hallways, who would stop her?). No. He didn't care about that (yet). It was her stone-cold indifference that really bugged him.

When she yelled at him and father sent him that disapproving stare, he cried it off and was okay in a matter of hours. Injuries healed- the scrapes on his knee from when she pushed him over only lasted a few days. The minor burns on his arm from when she sent some mini fireballs at him were gone after a few weeks. The cuts and bruises from her relentless teasing never stayed too long. But the look in her eyes when he yelled at her, the one that so clearly screamed ' _I'm better than you_ ' was the one thing he couldn't stand. Because it never went away.

Because it was _true_.

Her didn't hate her. He didn't think he ever really would. She was his sister, the same one that play-spared with him when the teacher wasn't looking, who helped him sneak fire flakes from thew kitchens. Even if she could be mean sometimes.

But that cold look in her eyes as she brought the mallet down again and again on his already broken sword with a strength that someone of her size shouldn't posses? Things like that made it just that little bit harder to love her. 

❉ ╤╤╤╤ ✿A Z U L A✿ ╤╤╤╤ ❉

Azula liked to lie in bed sometimes, in the middle of the night, and play with her fire. To make little swirling shapes with them then watch the flames spark and fade into nothing. She liked to make those little shapes, because she knew those shapes were something that Zuko couldn't do.

She was five years old. Zuko was seven and had just recently gotten his flames. He'd been practicing for a few weeks but kept on messing up his katas. He was weak. Father said so, and father never lies. 

But in those quiet moments in her room, she liked to lie on her bed with her feet crossed and arms behind her head and wonder if the problem wasn't Zuko being too weak, but rather her being too strong. She'd wonder, sometimes, what her life would be like if he had been strong. If she had been the weak one. But then she'd banish those thought form her head, because wasting time on useless thoughts was unbecoming of the Princess.

She didn't hate Zuko. Or at least not as much as she should have. He was weak, a crybaby, and unworthy of the Prince title he had been given. Father always said he was ungrateful. But Zuko was...complicated. She didn't get him, didn't know how to act around him. Mother always looked pleased when she gave her flowers (but never smiled, not with Azula-), but Zuko always scrunched his nose up and muttered about how girly it was. The guards nodded approvingly when she spat insults at the lowly servants, but Zuko only glared and told her to be nicer. And anytime she spat insults at him, he'd cower back and go hole up in his room to cry. It was infuriating. It was _pathetic_. Father always got that proud look in his eyes when she got a kata right, but Zuko just scowled and glared at him as he fumbled around his own, clumsily messing them up. He didn't talk, like all the other people. How was she supposed to know what he wanted?

And she could never get him alone to ask. He was always getting yelled at by Father- and Azula knows better than to interrupt him in one of his rants, she has the burn marks on her wrists to prove it- or smiling and talking with mother. And she always got that sick feeling around mother, that strong pull of something wrong anytime she walked in on one of their 'moments'. She didn't dare attempt to intrude, not with the scathing glares she sent him over Zuko's head. Interrupting him during tutor times were strictly forbidden, and Azula was not yet desperate enough to break one of fathers most important rules.

Didn't mean she had to like it, though.

Zuko was weak. She knew this. Father told him to stay away from Zuko, that he wasn't worthy of her time. Didn't stop her from glancing at him during mealtimes with something that, had it been anyone else, could have been longing. She, daresay, missed him and his stupid face. She didn't like him, no. But she looked at the children on the streets as they giggled and faux-wrested amongst one another and wished that she could have something like that. 

She didn't love Zuko- no. He was stupid, and annoying, and weak and all sources pointed at father killing him off one day before they even turned 13. But those soft smile he gave her when she offered to help him with his firebending katas? The breathy laughs he gave when she made a passing remark about the cooks food? The soft look in his eyes on the rare occurrence of father yelling at her instead?( _And it was pity, why was she secretly pleased at him showing some semblance of concern at her wellbeing?_ ). 

Those little things came together and made it about 100 times harder for her to hate him.

Why was he always making her life so goddamn hard?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ideas? Concerns? Chats? Thought on Azula? I tried my best to portray her as the psychopath we all know and love, while still showing her as the confused five year old she is. Thoughts are confusing.

**Author's Note:**

> I honestly do not even know what I'm doing right now. 
> 
> Kudos?


End file.
